Son desperately looking for employment

[YourPoisedWriter]

Why aren't employers giving younger generations a chance. My son is 20, he studied I.T and media studies at college, he is desperately seeking any employment, but every interview he has, always ends in knock backs, he either has no experience or isn't successful this time.

He always dresses smartly with a shirt, tie and trousers and always arrives early to interviews, he's polite and helpful, and is keen to learn new skills, it's just so frustrating, it's making him feel really low. I feel terribly sad for the younger generation, why aren't the job centres helping them?

Sorry just seen the updates so my comments re work experience are irrelevant

Phew. Glad to hear it’s not representative!

Some great advice here. I really hope it helps your son to secure a permanent position soon @YourPoisedWriter.

Your son mainly got GCSE grade 4 in the majority of his subjects, so that's an equivalent to a grade C in the old system. The grade 3, is a D in the old system. My advice would be to employ the services of a professional employment consultant, someone who can rewrite his CV and covering letter. It's not cheap, but it may be money well spent. He's volunteering, which is giving him some work experience. At this point, he needs to be applying for any job, even if it's not in IT. Does he drive? This can be a contributing factor with employers, it means you have a reliable way of commuting. I left college in 1993, and there was a recession, it took me a while to find work - I was over qualified, didn't have the right experience. I'd worked weekends since the age of 13, and still didn't have experience!! Back then it was different, there were entry level jobs, these days they barely exist, and it's making it harder for youngsters. I didn't drive until I was 20, and I will be honest, it made life harder, because I had to rely on local jobs in my hometown or the bus to a larger town. It also put a lot of employers off from hiring me. If he can't drive, he needs to start to learn asap. It's a mistake my own son won't be making, in 2 years he turns 17, he will be learning to drive!!

it’s a tough world out there. My 20 year old is at uni, but even applying for pub work or shop work he is told that over 100 apply for each position.
I would recommend that he takes whatever he can get, volunteering, temping, agency, contracts just to get a foot in the door. A lot of people I work with started as temps and then when the company saw what they can do they were hired full time, been promoted and now have successful careers.
i would also look to see if there are any charities about that can help with CVs and interview techniques, I know there used to be sessions in our local church hall.

Temping is actually a pretty good route as you gain experience and earn your reputation for reliability. If they really like you and have space they'll pay the agency off to keep you.
Interviews when you are young are really difficult because you aren't a fully developed person at that point in your life. Concentrate not on your immediate goal but on getting experience and exposure.

Look at mentoring schemes with organisations like the princes trust or be radical - there are lots of us out there an we coach interview and CV writing skilLa, such as using the star narrative to give examples etc

He may be better to apply to some big companies at entry level, ie customer service to get his foot in the door then look to progress upwards, seems to be the way to get in these days, not ideal but it’s a footing in the door.

His GCSE grades are really low and I’m surprised he wants to get into an IT career with a grade 3 in Computer Science. I’m assuming NQF course is what he did at college? Level 2 is the same as GCSE level. Employers will be choosing someone with higher grades and more advanced IT qualifications. No idea what 9FC means.

All round the UK, ages 17-26 cannot get their first decent roles into careers (not door work, care work, shift work etc)

Since COVID entry careers have been cut back, often due to the closure of office space. An example a fully staffed office will need reception staff, facilities management to keep offices maintained, maintenance teams for air conditioning, heating, decorating, lifts etc.

H&S legislation means workers can't be on a construction site until 18 so 16-18 year olds don't get experience before then..however that's not the case for many European countries which is why it's a more attractive career for non UK people. Construction is an area where there are more older workers so definitely opportunities for younger workers.

The Jobcentre isn't there to find you a job. They are there to penalise you for not taking one. I mean they sometimes do courses that have some value. I think there was one where you tried out different construction trades that the participants seemed to think was good. But I don't think many of them ended up in the construction industry.

He needs to motivate himself to stand out.

Does he understand how to answer the questions he’s being asked ? Employers use the STAR method and unfortunately, you’re scored based on how you construct your response.

He can watch some guides on how to answer questions using this method on LinkedIn and YouTube.

I also recommend he research the company before he goes into the interview so he has questions to ask the interviewer.

Had he volunteered or got any work experience at all? I'm going to get my kids into work as soon as feasibly possible, whether it's voluntary or paid. As teenagers they can rack up loads of experience in linked ways. Retails jobs or volunteering at the charity shop, kids clubs, animal rescues etc gives customer service skills, working as a team, punctuality, reliability, references etc. If he needs experience the paid work isn't the only way to get it - he should try other avenues too. My husband worked 2 whole years unpaid (his dad could support him so v lucky) and managed bhs on his Saturdays as a paid job, having worked there on retail since 15.... he's now super successful but would never have got his first proper job without the experience - you have to stand out a bit.

I totally agree with you, he's applied for all kinds of work, even local convenience stores, but constantly faces rejection, or hears nothing at all. I can understand why they become depressed and uninteractive.

I don't think the covid times helped, any work experience that was organised was cancelled, which was a big let down. Hopefully things will get better for all the young people, something needs to change.

Also the A.I situation isn't really helping, it seems if you do not have the right wording on your c.v, you don't stand a chance. I wish you and your family all the best.

The jobs market seems so shit at the moment. I've a DS in final year of degree course and a DS in year 13 who is looking at apprenticeships. I am worried for both of their futures.
Good luck to your son OP, a lot of people have no idea how difficult it is.

Heard about this on the radio this morning. Amazon supporting employees to further their qualifications and career

https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/workplace/upskilling

@schoolstruggle that looks really good. There's a Amazon warehouse in Southampton.

If you vote reform, they'll force him to work at Poundland.

Didn't Poundland go out of business?

No. They were purchased by a different company but have closed many stores due to restructuring.
It's a right pain because I bought loads of products from them.

Grades are lacking most want grade 5 and above, for IT jobs most will be graduates so he’ll have no chance, shocked college didn’t point this out to him.

Would he consider a role in childcare? Or teaching assisting?

Is he looking by for tech support roles on LinkedIn and applying that way? Worth doing so. Tech recruitment is often via direct application (heaps of remote companies now) or word of mouth. Agencies etc won’t help/be much use.

Get him on LinkedIn and look for jobs this way.

It's actually nothing new, I graduated with a Degree in Information Technology over 40 years ago and couldn't find an IT job any where in my area of Scotland.

It was a vicious circle, there were actually plenty of IT jobs in the area, BUT they were all seeking candidates with at least 12 months experience, but nobody was prepared to employ people, straight out of University.

I ended up going for interviews in England, and during some I was actually asked why I was applying, as I seemed to be overqualified for the junior positions!

Has your son been looking "nationwide" or only locally?

Agencies etc won’t help/be much use.

Not necessarily. We use agencies a lot, as did my previous employer.